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Caught
Aug 26, 2004 20:04:23 GMT -5
Post by Aline on Aug 26, 2004 20:04:23 GMT -5
Georg put Marta on the ground and looked at each of the children. He was relieved to see them all again. "How are you? I've been so worried!" he stated, this time staring at Maria.
She looked directly into his eyes. "Now we are well," she said not so happy.
Georg noticed her gloominess and didn't understand why she was like that until he looked around and saw that his youngest girl was missing. "Were is Gretl, is she all right?" he asked, fearing the answer.
"I think so, she is," was all Maria managed to say.
"What's that all about, darling?" Georg inquired, approachning his wife and taking her in a tender embrace.
All the worries about Gretl becoming one of them had been dissolved by the little girl's last gesture. But they were substituted by worse ones, ones that kept her from feeling happy at the sight of her husband. "Gretl is now alone with the Nazis. What would they do to her, how would she get back to us?" Maria couldn't avoid being utterly disturbed by those thoughts. "She stayed behind to save us," Maria told Georg, unable to prevent tears from falling.
Georg's mind darkened and his throat tightened. He was even more hurt when he noticed the fear on his children's faces. All he could do was embrace Maria even tighter, trying to comfort not only her but himself as well.
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Caught
Aug 26, 2004 20:11:08 GMT -5
Post by Buzzer on Aug 26, 2004 20:11:08 GMT -5
A few hours later, Mother Superior came to the door of the room. "Captain, Maria, come with me." She led them to a small room where there was a bed and a small child with blonde hair that was badly bruised and had apparently been beaten up. Gretl. She was unconcious and there were a few bandages on her arms. Hitler had figured out how the Von Trapps escaped and had ordered the youngest von trapp to be beaten. In the dead of the night, she had managed to get away and get to Max, who drove her to the Abbey.
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Caught
Aug 27, 2004 0:11:06 GMT -5
Post by Aline on Aug 27, 2004 0:11:06 GMT -5
When Maria saw Gretl she was so shocked that she felt backwards and would have hit the floor hadn't Georg caught her just in time.
"Are you alright, darling?" Georg asked concerned about her and also about his little girl, who was in a awful state. He didn't know who to assist first.
"I'll be fine, I'm just a little dizzy."
Mother Abess approached the couple and helped Georg lead Maria to a nearby couch.
"Stay here," he said and kissed her forehead.
"Go see how Gretl is," she demanded, and he nodded.
"What happened to her, Mother Abess?" he inquired. "How did she get here?!
"Herr Detweiler drove her here," she explained. "He said she arrived at your house in the middle of the night, limping and crying, but didn't get to tell him what happened because she fell uncounsious just after he had caught her ."
Georg was pale, and so was Maria.
"Let's hope nothing serious happened to her," Mother Abess prayed. "I put bandages on her arms. There were some bad bruises there," she said.
"Thank you, Mother," Maria's faint voice spoke.
Georg kneeled down beside the bed and leaned over Gretl. He took her hand and at the same time put his other hand on her forehead, moving her hair aside so he could see the extension of the bruises on her head. The ones there were the ones which most concerned him. Fortunately they didn't seem very serious.
"Is she uncouscious?" Maria asked from distance.
"I don't think so. She is just asleep. I can't blame her," he replied in pain. All he wanted that moment was to hug his daugther tightly, but obviously he couldn't due to her bruises. He would hurt her even more if he did.
"Can I stay here tonight, Mother Abess?" Maria tried.
"No darling. I'll stay. You need to rest," Georg stated. "Besides, the other children need you. I'll take care of her," he said. You don't need to worry, darling. She'll be alright," he assured.
Maria nodded and didn't protest when, after she had said good night to Georg and received a 'goodnight kiss' from him, Mother Abess led her back to the room where the other children were.
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Caught
Aug 27, 2004 0:28:14 GMT -5
Post by Buzzer on Aug 27, 2004 0:28:14 GMT -5
Georg sat Gretl up in his arms and managed to get some water and broth down her throat. He sat by her, holding her hand.
As the sun rose, she stirred. Her face twisted with pain and she opened her eyes. "Daddy?" she asked in a hoarse face. "Yes, it's me." "What are you doing here?" "Once you're better, we're going away." "Where is here?" "The Abbey." "Is everyone else okay?" "They're all fine. How are you feeling?" "It hurts lots." "I know, but soon you'll be better." "Where's Mother?" "With your brothers and sisters." "Oh." "What happened?" "Hitler found out they were gone and when I didnt tell him where you were going, he had someone beat me.
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Caught
Aug 28, 2004 22:00:35 GMT -5
Post by Aline on Aug 28, 2004 22:00:35 GMT -5
After Mother Abbes had left the room Maria headed to her bed, which was near Liesl's. There were only two beds in that room: one, wide, for her and Georg, and the other to Liesl. As there wasn't any other free room at the Abbey, except for the one in which Georg and Gretl were, the Sisters had had to improvise 'beds' for the other children to sleep in. So they arranged one mattress for each of them on the floor. There wasn't much place left. Those who wanted to walk in the room had to be careful so they wouldn't trip over someone.
Maria, however, was too shocked to think of being careful. So, as she was approaching her bed, she did trip over Louisa's mattress, falling down. Fortunately she managed to avoid hurting Louisa, but it had been unavoidable to wake her up.
"Oh, help me! Don't let them take me!"
"Oh, no, Louisa is having those nightmares again!" Maria though as the girl opened her eyes in a startle.
"Shhh, Louisa, or everybody will wake up," Maria whispered. "And nobody is taking you," she added amused when the girl looked at her with an intrigued expression.
"Oh, what happened?" she asked, adjusting her body in a straight position.
"I accidentaly tripped over you," Maria explained, flattening her own clothes.
"Ah..." Louisa said. "Where were you? And where is Father? We became worried when you didn't return. What did Mother Abbes want?"
Maria didn't want to go into all that. It was very late for that, and she wanted to talk to them all at the same time. So the best thing to do was to wait until the next morning. "Well," she started. "Your sister is here."
"You mean Gretl?" Louisa inquired surprised and hopeful at the same time.
"Yes."
"Oh, how is she?"
"Let's say she is a bit tired but will be better soon," Maria explained. She didn't want to frighten Louisa. After all, it was true that Gretl would be better soon. There was no need to worry.
"Is Father with her?"
"Yes, he is. Now let's go back to sleep before we wake someone up."
"Alright," Louisa agreed. The moment her head touched the pillow again she fell once more in a deep sleep.
Maria took more time to feel asleep. Not with her mind worry-free, she finally did.
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Caught
Aug 28, 2004 22:04:00 GMT -5
Post by Buzzer on Aug 28, 2004 22:04:00 GMT -5
The next morning, Gretl woke up curled up in the bed with her father holding her hand. He had fallen asleep leaning against the wall. She slipped out of bed and went wandering. She turned a corner and banged into Liesl. "Liesl!" she hugged her big sister.
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Caught
Aug 28, 2004 22:35:18 GMT -5
Post by Aline on Aug 28, 2004 22:35:18 GMT -5
"Gretl!!!" Liesl exclaimed surprised.
The oldest girl had waken up before everybody else. As she hadn't been able to go back to sleep and didn't want to disturb anybody, she decided to go for a morning walk. She had been heading to the patio when she bumped into Gretl.
"Gretl, I'm so glad you are safe!" Liesl said, benting down to be eye-level with her sister. When she looked closer at her she noticed some of her bruises. "Oh, darling, what did they do to you?" she asked concerned.
Liesl was heartbroken. Her little sister had been beaten, and she was so fragile..."At least she is safe now," she thought. All the girl felt like to do was taking Gretl in her arms and don't release her anymore. Even thought, when she started to return the embrace, she felt Gretl resist. She seemed to be in pain.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Liesl made her best to hold the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.
"Where were you going?" Liesl asked. "I was going to the patio to see how the day is. Don't you want to come with me?" She inquired, trying to cheer her up.
The little girl seemed to agree, so Liesl took her hand and together they resumed the track she had been on some minutes before.
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Caught
Aug 28, 2004 22:37:38 GMT -5
Post by Buzzer on Aug 28, 2004 22:37:38 GMT -5
"Liesl? I'm sorry I turned Nazi." The little girl looked up at the eldest. "Is anybody else awake?" Her heart was soaring because she was with her big sister. She couldnt wait to see the others.
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Caught
Aug 28, 2004 23:04:59 GMT -5
Post by Aline on Aug 28, 2004 23:04:59 GMT -5
Liesl was relieved to see that Gretl recognized she had been acting in a wrong way, and that she seemed to be willingly to make up for the mistake.
"No, they are still sleeping," Liesl said. "Let's go to the patio. It will be good to see the sun."
The little girl didn't protest.
"What about Father. Is he awake yet?" Liesl asked, looking down at Gretl, waiting for her to reply and at the same time studying her sister's movements so she would be able to see if it didn't hurt as she walked.
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Caught
Aug 28, 2004 23:06:54 GMT -5
Post by Buzzer on Aug 28, 2004 23:06:54 GMT -5
She shook her head "No. He's asleep and snoring. He snores LOUD." she was favoring her left leg.
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Caught
Aug 29, 2004 11:45:35 GMT -5
Post by Aline on Aug 29, 2004 11:45:35 GMT -5
Liesl didn't really pay attention on what Gretl had said. She was concentrated on her movements, what made her notice that something was wrong with her right leg.
"Gretl, come here," she called when they were already at the patio.
Gretl stopped on her track and looked at her sister with an intrigued expression.
"Let's sit there on that bank," Liesl said pointing to a bank a few meters away. She didn't want Gretl to make an unnecessary physical effort. Besides, she intended to ask what had happened to her, as Maria hadn't had time to tell them yet. The little girl would feel more comfortable if they were sat.
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Caught
Aug 29, 2004 12:27:38 GMT -5
Post by Buzzer on Aug 29, 2004 12:27:38 GMT -5
They sat on the bank and Gretl put her head against Lisel's shoulder. Her sister asked "Gretl, what happened after we left?" "They beat me up. They left me so they could rest and I heard them saying they were gonna torture me the next day so I'd tell." Luckily, she had gotten away in time.
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Caught
Aug 31, 2004 17:44:06 GMT -5
Post by Aline on Aug 31, 2004 17:44:06 GMT -5
Liesl didn't know what to say. She couldn't even imagine her fragile sister being tortured by the Nazis. Even if she wanted, though, she didn't need to say a word.
"Hey! What are you two doing there?" somone called.
Liesl turned her head and saw Louisa coming.
"Hi, Louisa!" Liesl greeted. "Finally someone woke up!" she played.
Liesl followed Louisa with her eyes, waiting for her to get closer. This moment Louisa saw Gretl there.
"Oh, Gretl is here!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, she is," was all the older girl said. Then she noticed the little one had fallen asleep in her arms, her head buried in her chest. "Shh, she is sleeping."
Louisa nodded. "What happened?" she whispered.
Liesl didn't know if she should tell Louisa. Maybe Maria was the one who should do so.
"Where is Mother?" Liesl asked.
"She is still sleeping," Louisa told. "After all, it seems she went to bed rather late last night."
"Really? How do you know?" Liesl inquired curious.
"Well, when she returned to our room she didn't see my mattress and tripped over me," Louisa explained laughing.
"Oh," Liesl said.
"I can tell it was very late," Louisa added. "So, what happened, Liesl? How did Gretl manage to get here?"
Liesl pondered and decided to tell Louisa what had happened to Gretl. Atfer all, she would know sooner or later.
When Liesl finished, Louisa felt the same way her sister had felt some minutes before: heartbroken.
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Caught
Aug 31, 2004 20:31:52 GMT -5
Post by Buzzer on Aug 31, 2004 20:31:52 GMT -5
Liesl's arms tightened around Gretl protectively, and that awoke Gretl. She tried not to cry out from the renewed pain.
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Caught
Sept 1, 2004 21:39:31 GMT -5
Post by Aline on Sept 1, 2004 21:39:31 GMT -5
Louisa saw Gretl shifting in Liesl's arms. She could tell her little sister was suffering.
"Hello, Gretl," she greeted softly when the girl looked at her.
Gretl managed to smile.
"We are so glad to have you again," Louisa smiled back, squeezing the hand the little girl had outstretched.
Louisa then looked at her oldest sister, as if expecting her approval. Liesl nooded and smiled in assurance at her.
"You'll be alright, Gretl," Louisa assured. "We will be here to take care of you," she added, pressing Gretl's hand harder and carefully leaning forward to give her a kiss on the cheek.
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